Billionaire Elon Musk is now the owner of Twitter and is cleaning house.
The Washington Post reported Musk’s $44 billion deal with the company closed on Thursday.
Three people familiar with the matter told the Post Musk fired several longtime top Twitter executives.
Chief executive Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy, trust, and safety, were reportedly fired, as the Post noted.
One person also said Sean Edgett, the company’s general counsel, was pushed out of the company.
According to the Post, the top executives were “hastily escorted” out of Twitter’s headquarters.
Musk tweeted Thursday evening, “The bird is freed.”
The announcement was met with mixed reactions.
Writer Molly Jong-Fast tweeted, “This bird feels like it’s heading into a glass door or very large window.”
https://Twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1585951874402111489
Another user wrote, “Hope you will not let any one cage it.”
One declared this will “free speech.”
Check out more reactions below:
https://Twitter.com/Knesix/status/1585890611416154116
Musk is expected to hold a companywide town hall Friday.
He issued a message to advertisers to share why he acquired Twitter in the first place.
“The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence,” Musk said.
He continued, “There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far-right wing and far left-wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.”
Concluding his message, Musk acknowledged Twitter “cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!”
Musk continued, “In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences, just as you can choose, for example, to see movies or play video games ranging from all ages to mature.”